Sculptor Botches Cristiano Ronaldo Bust, Compares Himself to Jesus

Sculptor Botches Cristiano Ronaldo Bust, Compares Himself to Jesus

Following in the footsteps of such sculptural monstrosities as “Scary Lucy” and “Ugly Nefertiti“, an unrecognizable bronze bust of soccer star Christiano Ronaldo was unveiled yesterday at an airport in Portugal. It quickly went viral, because, well, it’s funny to see someone as handsome as Ronaldo standing next to something as hideous as this statue pretending he’s cool with the fact that it’s supposed to look like him. Also, aggressively bad art is always amusing.

One person who isn’t amused by the world’s reaction to the statue, however, is its creator Emanuel Santos. He not only stands by his work, but also possibly sees himself as the second coming of Jesus.

“It’s impossible to please the Greeks and the Trojans,” he told the Globo Esporte. “Not even Jesus pleased everyone. This is a matter of taste, it’s not as simple as it seems. I have seen the work of great artists that follow this parameter. What matters is the impact this work generated.”

Indeed, it certainly has generated impact — mostly in the form of hundreds of memes and tweets and blog posts calling for its destruction.

He continued: “There is always the possibility of producing something that looks different, I was already prepared for all of that. I used some photos of Cristiano Ronaldo that I found on the internet as a base, not one photo specifically. I put the photos by my side and started working on the bust.”

Got it. Word to the wise: Never let anyone sculpt a bronze bust of you based on “some photos they found on the Internet.”